Home plumbing is a modern convenience! Indoor plumbing means you do not have to live by a creek or use an outhouse. However, keeping this luxury functioning – where and how you want – without drowning everyone in your home can be an interesting challenge! Read on for some advice on controlling the flow of water in your home.

Do not fall for the idea that liquid grease can be easily washed down the drain with hot water. While the grease may flow past the initial drain with the water, it does not take much of a temperature change as it moves through your pipes to alter from liquid to solid. The repeat habit of dumping grease in the sink is a sure-fire way to ensure a hard-to-reach clog forming in the future.

Avoid bleach tablets, blue toilet deodorizers, or the other odor removers inside your toilet. These products can be great when it comes to getting rid of odors, but unfortunately, they can cause significant damage to the rubber portions of your toilet. This can lead to it breaking down or having other issues.

During the winter, preventing frozen pipes when you live in a small dwelling can be something good to know. Frozen pipes will not only stop your flow of water but can crack and damage pipes. By running a little water out of every faucet during the coldest parts of the day, you can avoid this.

Install screen traps or drain covers on all of your sinks and tub drains. Most home plumbing calls are about clogged pipes. These can be caused by debris, especially hair, washing down the drains. Putting in a trap means that you can clean this debris off before it ends up in the pipes.

Set the temperature on your hot water heater to a temperature that does not exceed 120 degrees. This helps to save energy and prevents the water from becoming too hot and potentially scalding someone in your household. Older models that do not have a temperature setting should be set on Medium.

Have a specific plumber in mind before you have an emergency. Most people don’t think about plumbers until they find themselves having a big problem that needs to be fixed right away. Instead, choose a plumber who you are comfortable with and whose experience you trust–way before you actually need his services.

When looking for a plumber, you have quite a few options. Ask friends for recommendations of who they use. Check online for plumbers with good reviews and references. Use your yellow pages and look under “Plumbing Contractors” or “Plumbing, Drain and Sewer Cleaning”. Make sure that you contact more than one plumber before making a choice.

If the water pressure on your street exceeds 60 pounds, you may want to consider installing a pressure-reducing valve. Too much water pressure is actually harmful to your plumbing system and could cause excess water pressure. A pressure-reducing valve cuts down your water pressure by almost 50 percent.

To lessen the amount of hair going into your home plumbing, thoroughly brush hair and use a body brush to remove loose body hair before entering the shower or bath. If it’s been a while since you have shaved your legs or face, use an electric razor to remove the longer hair, before shaving in the sink or shower.

You may want to consider tankless water heaters if you want to conserve water in your home. This kind of water heater heat up your water as soon as it is being used, so you are not wasting energy on keeping your water hot when it is not being used.

To check for toilet leaks, especially if it seems like your toilet is chronically running, use a few drops of food coloring in the toilet tank. If water is leaking into the bowl, you will see color in about a half-hour. Replacing tank parts can repair leaks and greatly save on water consumption.

With a little bit of plumbing, you can route water anywhere you want in your home. Doing so makes it possible to live anywhere and adds convenience to any room – but done wrong can mean a financial disaster! Keep the wisdom of this article in mind and you can keep the water flowing where you want but in ways, you can handle.